FrameUp
by Archangel120
Summary: Ever see the episode "Frame Up"? This story is a twist on that episode with my own made up characters. Thanks goes to Jane Firefly Kaulitz and elizabethbennet3553 for being my beta's.
1. Prologue

Frame-Up: Prologue

It was a dark, stormy night. NCIS Director Tiffany Sutton was at home reading in her upstairs bedroom; when the sound of glass shattering sounded from downstairs. It was accompanied soon after by the sound of something breaking on the tile floor. She figured it came from the kitchen, since there was a sliding glass door in that room of the house. Tiffany grabbed her six hour and headed down to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the first thing she noticed was a pile of broken glass inside by the fragmented sliding door. As she looked around, she noticed there were also broken china shards on the floor. She knew it was her china because of the flowery design on some of the pieces. Seeing the shattered china reminded her of the 40 caliber pistol she kept in the same drawer. As she walked over to the drawer, there were two major things that she noticed:

1.) Blood, it seemed to begin near the door and trail to the drawer handle.

2.) A LOT of broken china.

Tiffany started to notice an accumulation of blood as she got closer to the drawer the china and gun were kept in. She knew the gun wouldn't be inside, even before she opened the drawer to check. Tiffany's suspicions were correct. When she discovered that the gun was indeed missing, she decided that she could wait until the morning before reporting the break-in. Little did she know how dearly that decision would cost her in the near future. It did, however, occur to her that her house was probably under surveillance. It had only been a few months since the gun was put into that drawer. Coming out once in a blue moon to be cleaned and examined for possible damage. She'd be sure to mention it tomorrow.

Half an hour later, as Tiffany was drifting asleep, she heard it. The gunshot.


	2. Chapter 1: The Death of LC Scott

Frame Up: Chapter 1: The Death of LC Scott

It was a calm morning at the NCIS Headquarters in Washington D.C. Mossad Liaison Officer Amy Highland and Sr. Field Agent Jake Reed were talking about what could have been so important that they were called in on a Sunday. Jake was of average height for his age. He had brown eyes and dark brown hair. Jake tended to wear shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Amy, on the other hand, had light brown hair, was sort of short for her age, and also had brown eyes. She usually wore jeans, a t-shirt under a jacket, and boots, because of where she lived.

"Maybe there's a drug deal gone wrong," Jake offered.

"No," Amy countered. "Some sailor probably jumped overboard. I hate flying in cods."

"Speaking of cods, where's Nate?" asked Jake.

Amy responded, "How do cods make you think of Nate?"

"He owes me some,"

"Nate's going to give you a few jets? He must've won the lottery."

"No, not the kind of jet, the kind of fish," said Jake. "We made a bet. He lost."

"What was the bet?" wondered Amy.

"That I could run a mile in six minutes or less." Jake responded.

"You can't,"

"So what if I lied about a few seconds?"

"How many?"

"Five."

"Seriously, how many?" Amy asked, while giving Jake one of her 'death glares'.

"Somewhere around 90 seconds or so," was Jake's reply. From what Amy could tell, he wasn't lying.

"Why would you lie? And over something as stupid as a bet where the prize is fish!" an astonished Amy exclaimed.

"It was a bad fishing season. The price of fish has skyrocketed!" Jake replied, now somewhat ashamed.

Just then, NCIS Field Agent Nate Cannon exited the elevator carrying a small cooler. Nate was tall for his age, with brown eyes and hair that was a dark brown that looked almost black. He usually wore shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Even if it was only going to be 50 degrees outside the next day, Nate wore shorts until there was a foot of snow on the ground. "Sorry I'm late, guys. The line at the store was huge. Here's your fish, Jake."

"Uh," Jake started. Then he noticed Amy was still glaring at him. "On second thought, just keep it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"If you're sure. Well, guys, lunch is on me."

As if summoned by the end of the conversation, Team Leader Cole Braden entered the room. Cole was also of average height for his age with reddish hair and brown eyes. He typically wore shorts, a t-shirt under a hoodie, and tennis shoes. "Grab your gear."

"Where we goin', boss?" asked Nate.

"Quantico. Dead Lieutenant Commander."

"Do we know what killed him?" wondered Jake.

"Gee, Reed, that's what we're going to find out," said Amy sarcastically as she grabbed her gear and followed her team to the elevator.

….

The sound of cameras and sirens filled the air. The NCIS Field Team was investigating the scene.

"This guy had to have been pretty important to attract all of this," Jake said, indicating his surroundings. "Who was this guy, anyways?"

Cole's response was to the point, "Navy Lieutenant Commander James Scott."

In response, all Jake said was "Never heard of him."

"I think I've heard of him. Wasn't he a liaison officer between the navy and some big defense contractor?" said Nate.

"Congrats, Cannon. You actually knew who this guy was. Most people wouldn't. Until now," came Cole's answer to the question.

Just then, NCIS' Medical Examiner John Sayan and his assistant, Joe Reev, came onto the crime scene. John was on the shorter side of average height for his age, with hazel eyes and brown-black hair that he shaked to fix whenever someone touched it. He typically wore jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Joe, his assistant, was taller than John, with brown hair and brown eyes. He usually wore jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes.

"Well, no outward signs of trauma. Although, there are ring-like marks on his wrists, indicating that they may have been bound," John said.

LC James Scott was on the shorter side of average height for his age. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Currently, he was wearing his uniform.

"We're finished taking pictures, Doc. It's okay to move the body," Cole told John.

"Get the gurney, please, Joe," John told his assistant.

"Okay, Doc," came Joe's reply as he left. Joe came back relatively soon after that that. John and Joe put the deceased on the gurney and left. Cole strolled on over to his team.

"Hey, Boss. What do you make of this?" Jake said to Cole, while indicating a dent in the wall.

"Somebody got in a fight," came Cole's nonchalant response. "You guys did notice the trace amounts of blood on the wall and what's left of this patch of carpet, right?"

"Of course we did. I'll get right on bagging and tagging that,"  
came Jake's answer.

"Got something," Nate yelled from down the hall.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

"Might be drugs," came the reply. "Bring the test kit."

"Well, it definitely isn't drugs," Jake said after testing the blue-green liquid. "Might this be our means of death?"

"It's possible, but that would point to murder. And nothing we've found so far would indicate murder," Amy told Nate.

"Whoa, you guys may want to come here for a sec," came Jake's voice from a room off the bedroom they were in. "Whoever lives here has to be one psychotic person to have all of this." Jake was indicating everything in the room.

Imagine every possible way to kill someone, then eliminate all of the ones that involve craters of some sort of liquid and you get the sight before them. Poisons, knifes, guns, snakes, snakes in pits, slingshots, and any other means to end one's life, all in one room. There was even some boiling lava in there. Oh, and rocks, HOT rocks.

"If I had to choose a method of death, it would definitely NOT be something in here. Then again, that wouldn't leave me much of a choice," Nate said.

"Wow," Jake and Amy said in unison.

"We'd better get Cole and show him this death room. Caitlin will have a field day searching through this for a means to LC Scott's death," Nate said.

"I'll go and get Cole," Amy said.

"I'll shoot," Nate said. "No pun intended."

"And I'll get the field kit," came Jake.

Everyone went to do their respective jobs. By the time Amy, Jake, and Cole came back, Nate had taken more than enough photos of the room and all of its contents.

"Come on, let's get all of this stuff back to the lab," Cole said.

The team packed everything up and headed back to headquarters with all of their evidence.


	3. Chapter 2: The Investigation

Frame Up: Chapter 2: The Investigation

The NCIS Team was back with all of their evidence. While Caitlin was working in the lab, Amy and Cole were out of the building. Jake and Nate were in the squad room discussing their latest victim. "Lieutenant Commander James Scott. 35; been in the Navy for the last 10 years, but he's only been a LC for the last 2 years," said Nate.

"Was he married?" was Jake's question.

Nate consulted the dead LC's record. "Not married. Never married, actually. Which means no kids. As for his family... none left alive. He was the last surviving member of his family. According to his record, no siblings and no cousins that anyone could find."

"What do you mean, that anyone could find?" Jake wondered.

Nate's answer was shorter than Jake would've expected, considering the topic. "People have cousins that've been removed, family that doesn't speak to them anymore. I could go on, but what's the point. Long story short, LC Scott may have had family he didn't even know about."

Just then, Nate's phone rang.

"Cannon," Nate said. That's how most people at NCIS answered their phones; by their last name.

"Nate, it's Caitlin. Come down to the lab, I've found something," Caitlin, the forensic scientist at NCIS, said over the phone: Her voice almost overflowing with excitement. Caitlin was tall for her age, with blond hair and blue eyes. She usually wore jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes.

"Jake and I will be right down," was Nate's answer. Then he hung up. "Caitlin found something." The group of two headed down to forensics to see what Caitlin could have found that'd made her so excited.

...

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Cole asked Amy. She'd already gotten them lost once. At "LC Scott's House", the key wasn't working. So they had to bust through the door. After they gained entry to the house, they were greeted by the face of a very surprised looking 22 year old boy. Cole had to apologize, since Amy looked too surprised to speak. After they left, Cole told Amy that if this happened again TODAY, she'd be doing desk work for the next two months.

"Yes, I am sure this is the right place. I just had the map upside down before," was Amy's reply to the question. "I am sure this is 1300 North M street. It is an apartment building. Scott's number is 615."

"Then let's go. Grab the gear, just in case it's needed," Cole instructed Amy.

And BOY was it needed. For starters, the door wasn't even locked. There was also a pretty decently sized hole that was somehow made in the door. If the door was any prelude to what they would find inside, it fell short of expectations. The small apartment was all but decimated. The entire inside was torn apart; holes the size of their fists could be found sporadically on the walls. There were a few stains on the carpet and a mess of something was on the blue and white tile floor of the kitchen. The bedroom, which was somewhat suprising, had the most damage. Nothing was left on the walls; piles of shattered glass were all over the floor. NOTHING was left on the small nightstand and the desk.

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to destroy this place," Amy said.

"Not necessarily. They might've been looking for something," Cole countered.

"You might have a valid point there. From the dust pattern left on the desk, when you compare it to the debris around it, it seems like something's missing," Amy said, regarding one of the only pieces of furniture in the room. The little room was barren except for a bed, a nightstand, a desk with a chair, and a TV mounted on the wall.

"Well, let's stop staring at everything and start doing something. Amy, start taking pictures. Start in here," Cole instructed. The rest of the time they spent there was focused on taking pictures and then bagging and tagging everything. Somewhere between twenty minutes and a half hour, they finished.

"I hope Caitlin, Nate, and Jake are having good luck with the case," Amy said aloud; whether or not it was to herself or to Cole wasn't certain.

"Yeah, I hope so too," Cole said as if he was addressed.

...

As it turned out, Caitlin DID have luck. Actually, she probably had made one of the most important finds of the entire case. After finding out from John what type of... _thing_ killed James Scott, she focused her work on those. Turns out it was a gunshot wound to the heart, but there was no blood at the scene. At least Caitlin could tell Cole and his team where the stain near the body came from. Since there was probably somewhere near 60 different guns found, she had spent the last three hours checking ballistics of the guns versus the slug found in the body of James Scott. She eventually matched it to one of the ten 40 caliber pistols. Caitlin decided to start the search for the gun's owner from the serial number when she called Nate. Now on to the next item on her to-do list: tire tracks. She scanned the casting of the tire track onto her computer and started running it through the motor vehicle database. Caitlin took a fingerprint found at the crime scene and started running it through AFIS (A database of fingerprints). She then figured it was safe to call Nate. Caitlin started the gun serial number match search, then called Nate. About five minutes later, Nate and Jake showed up.

"What've you found, Caitlin?" Nate asked as he entered her lab.

"Well, I've figured out the bullet that killed James Scott came from one of the 40 cals found at the scene. I'm running the serial number now. The tire track you guys lifted at the scene came from a Ford Mustang Converitable. I couldn't tell you the owner, but if you have a suspect who owns one, I can see if this tire track matches their Mustang's tires. And I've started the search for a match to the only finger print lifted from the scene," Caitlin told them.

"What about the house? Have you figured out who owns it?" Jake asked.

"I'm working on that now," was her reply. She went to her computer and pulled up a search bar. "The address is 5621 Elm Rd, Alexandrea, VA. Starting the search... now. It will probably be a while for that result."

Just then, the computer running the gun serial number halted it's search and displaying the result on the screen. "There's the result on who owns the gun. Let's just see who just became our first suspect," Caitlin said, dashing over to look at the screen. After she saw who the owner was, a very worried look covered her face. "Oh, no!" she exclamed.

"What?" questioned Nate.

"The owner. It's Tiffany Sutton," answered Caitlin.

"So?" Jake asked.

"Tiffany Sutton is the Director of NCIS. And our boss," came Caitlin's worried reply.

"You don't think..." Nate trailed off.

"I don't, but the forensics say she did. Oh, man. This is going to be a tough one to explain..." Caitlin muttered before Jake cut her off.

"_Tough_? This will be more than tough. How exactly do we explain to the Director of a federal agency that she is being accused of murder? This will be the hardest thing in the world to do."

"Let's just get this over with," Nate said. "Since you two are freaking out over this, I'll just do it." Nate walked into Caitlin's office and used her phone to call Director Sutton. Nate dialled her number and got her assistant.

"Director's office," came the crisp voice of the assistant.

"Special Agent Nate Cannon for the Director. I need to speak with her about a case," Nate said.

"What case?" probed the assistant.

"The James Scott case," was his short reply.

"I'll let her know." After about thirty seconds, the assistant came back on. "Let me transfer you to her."

"Sutton." Tiffany said over the phone.

"Director, it's Nate. Can you come down to Caitlin's lab? I need to ask you something concerning the James Scott case," Nate said to the director.

Although she didn't reveal it in her voice, Tiffany was shocked. One of her ex-boyfriends was James Scott. She ran his name to see if her suspitions were right. They were. "Can't you ask me over the phone?"

"It'd be better if I asked you in person and with Caitlin's findings in her lab, it'd be easier if you came down here," Nate answer.

Tiffany's mood just went south. "I'll be right down," she answered. If this has to do with what happened a couple of nights ago, she was screwed. _Well, I might as well get this over with, _Tiffany thought. She got up from her desk and headed to Caitlin's lab, dreading what would confront her when she got there.

Nate snapped the phone down, breathing a sigh of relief. The small cluster of people in the lab slumped. _This wasn't good._


	4. Chapter 3: Blast from the Past

Frame Up: Chapter 3: Blast from the Past

It was quiet in the forensic lab at NCIS. Caitlin, Jake, and Nate were waiting with worried expressions on their faces. The Director was on her way down from her office to talk with them about the case they were working on, per Nate's request. And it wasn't a casual update. The trio currently in Forensics had the unpleasant task of telling the director of a federal agency that she was being accused of outright murder. Not at the top of most people's list of things they'd enjoy doing. As if the weather outside could feel the mood in the room, it started to rain.

"So, who's doing the talking?" Jake asked, breaking the silence that filled the room.

"I'll do it," Nate said. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

Nobody responded, which meant that either they didn't have an idea or they didn't want to voice their thoughts. They were saved, however, by the ding of the elevator's bell. And in walked the Director of NCIS, Tiffany Sutton.

"So, you called me down here, Nate?" was the first thing she said, or rather, asked.

"Well, Director, we have a lead on the case." Nate started. "The James Scott case. We have a suspect..." he trailed off.

"And who would the suspect be?" Tiffany asked.

"About that. See, you might not be… happy with the suspect we've found because…" Nate said before he was cut off.

"Will you get to the point, please?" Tiffany asked. "I have a meeting out of the building in an hour. It's a bit of a drive."

"Well, the suspect is… you," Nate told her. He was waiting for what would happen next. If she was mad, she didn't show it.

"Okay, what proof do you have?" Tiffany asked, not a hint of anger or surprise in her voice.

Here, Caitlin stepped in to explain the evidence.

"The bullet that killed Scott came from a 40 cal. When I ran the serial number, your name and file came up. I also pulled a partial fingerprint from the trigger guard. It was yours. When I examined the gun's inner workings, I also found your fingerprints. The gun belongs to you," Caitlin paused to take a breath. "But I'm running the address of the house now. I _know_ that it's not yours. You also don't own a Ford Mustang Convertible. You don't, do you?"

"No, I own a Honda Accord," was Tiffany's answer.

The computer running the address pulled up the result and dinged. "Now who owns the crime scene?" Caitlin asked, most likely to herself but loud enough for everyone to hear. "John Martin. Never heard of him."

Nobody could tell, but Tiffany was _shocked_ at this. John Martin was the father of one of her ex-boyfriends, Damien. "Does he have any kids?"

"Let me check... yeah. One named Damien." was Caitlin's reply.

_Damn_ Tiffany thought to herself. She unexpectedly found herself remembering a different time, in a different place.

***FLASHBACK***

_ July, 2005. San Francisco, California. Tiffany and Damien walking along the Pacific Coast. Tiffany trying to break up with Damien. Damien doesn't want to accept it._

_ "I said we're through, Damien," Tiffany said. She walks away. Damien follows._

_ "No, Damien. Leave me alone." He still can't get the message._

_ "You're just confused, Tiffany," Damien said. "I'll help you sort it all out."_

_ "Damien, NO!" she exclaimed. Before she could stop herself, she lunged at him. Damien wasn't expecting this. Before anyone could make sense of anything, Tiffany knocked him out with a blow to the back of the head. Tiffany, not particularly happy with what she'd done, ran away from the scene. Damien woke up a couple hours later, disoriented and mad. Tiffany, however, was already on a flight from LA to the farthest domestic place she could think of: Washington D.C._

***END FLASHBACK***

** "**Tiffany, you there?" Nate asked. Tiffany had a glassy look about her that wasn't there a minute ago.

_Back to reality, Tiffany,_ she thought to herself. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here," was her reply. _My thought weren't, _she added to herself. _Nowhere near here_. "Let me know when you come up with something. I gotta go to a meeting." Tiffany left, her mind still not fully grasping the full extent of what's just unfolded. _He found me. I don't know how, but he found me._ That's what filled her head. That, and the simple, one word question, _How?_

_Something's up, _was the thought running through everyone's head, although nobody knew that. An all too common silence filled the room, but this time, it was Nate who broke the silence.

"Caitlin, is he still alive?" he asked.

"Uhh, yeah. He was on vacation for the past week. Booked a flight home last night. Left Los Angeles last night around 23:30 Pacific Standard Time and it landed in D.C. at 03:30 PST, which would be 06:30 local time, I believe," was Caitlin's reply.

"Boss, you want me to go ask him some questions?" Nate asked Cole.

"Yeah, sure," Cole answered after a pause. "You need backup?"

"I think I'll be fine," was Nate's reply.

"Are you waiting for some sort of cue to leave?" Cole asked with an impatient sounding tone.

"No, no. I'm leaving now, Boss," Nate replied. Then he was out of here, not even bothering to take the elevator.

"Jake, get John Martin's bank statements. Amy, get a list of his recent calls and figure out if he's talking to anyone we don't want him talking to. Use your contacts if you need to. Caitlin..., take a break. You look like you need one," Cole instructed his remaining team members. _I wonder what's going through everyone's head and if their thoughts are as jumbled as mine are,_ Cole thought.

…...

_Damn it, I have the worst luck in the world,_ Tiffany thought to herself as she drove to her across town meeting. _Who plans a meeting at 12:15 in D.C.?_ she thought, allowing her thoughts to stray from her terrible luck. _I mean, I tried SO hard to lose him. I moved to the other side of the country and changed my last name, then tried to modify my file so that it never showed that I spent anytime in California._ her dismal thoughts returned, regrettably. _Which begs the question, no, two questions: How did he find me? and Was the original record erased? _The possibility dawned on her. Was the original file completely erased from the system? If it wasn't, anyone who looked hard enough, or knew enough about computers, would've been able to find it. She glanced at the clock in her car. 12:00, which meant that she had about 15 minutes to get to the hotel (which would take 5 minutes if traffic cooperated; 10 if it didn't), check in, and find the conference room. She pulled into the parking lot of the hotel at 12:09. _Stupid traffic._ With less than a minute to spare, she got herself seated in the conference room. The guy in charge of the DOD (Department of Defense) came out and addressed us. _Smart idea when you think about it, holding a meeting during lunch hour._ she thought. It was true, D.C.'s streets could be deadlock during lunch hour. Also, directors have been known to leave their offices for lunch, so it wouldn't look suspicious if one was to go somewhere for an hour.

_THIS IS TORTURE!_ Tiffany was thinking an hour later. As it turned out, much to her displeasure, this wasn't a simple 20 minute meeting, but a two hour lecture where the DOD "gives the agency directors suggestions" on how to run their respective agencies. In reality, they were telling them how to run them. Just as she was about to fall asleep, there was applauding and the head of the DOD leaves the stand and people start to meander out of the room. _Finally,_ she thought. Tiffany just joined the crowd and slowly left the building.

…...

"Nothing unusual about his bank statements...," Jake said as he was sifting through the bank statements of the only suspect they've been able to come up with. His name is John Martin and a man was murdered in his house yesterday. That's what the team at NCIS knows.

"Wait, I think I've found something," Jake told Cole and Amy. "He had his paychecks directly deposited into his bank account until two months ago. Now, he gets his check from his boss every Friday and cashes it in at the bank a block from his work. Now, why do that when you can just get it put straight into your bank account?"

Nobody answered, most likely because they didn't want to.

"Amy, find anything interesting in his phone records?" Cole asked.

"No, nothing," was her short reply. "Although, I was going through his son's phone records, trying to be thorough and found something. He continuously tries calling a cell phone number that is no longer in use. I can't get the number, although I called the cell company to see if they still have the record on file. They will get back to me if and when they find it."

"Well, I hope Nate's having _ANY_ luck. We've had close to none. All we've got is a method of payment change for John Martin's paycheck and a discontinued phone number that his son, Damien, keeps calling," Cole told Jake and Amy.

"So, just to clarify, we've got close to _nothing_?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, Jake, we've got nearly nothing."

…...

_Great, there's no car here,_ Nate thought to himself. John Martin owns a car, and if it's not here, he's probably not here. When Nate got to the door, he went to knock, but stopped himself. He noticed that the door was ajar. _I thought we closed the door behind us_ was Nate's first thought. _Well, maybe he's here. He just wanted to let some air in the house. I should probably announce myself first, then go in._ he decided."NCIS. I need to ask you a few questions," he said as he inched the door open. The front room was a mess. Broken glass and upturned furniture littered the room. It looked, to Nate, as though there had been a fight in here. Nate decided it would be a good idea to investigate. _Now _THAT_ definitely wasn't like that yesterday. _He went back to the scene of the murder and found _another_ body lying exactly where the body of James Scott was just yesterday. This body, though, had a pretty large piece of glass stuck through where his heart is. Nate took out his cell phone and called Cole.

"Braden," Cole said over the phone.

"Cole, it's Nate."

"You talk to John Martin yet?"

"No, he wasn't home. But something else was."

"What?"

"Another body."

"We'll be right there."

They hung up. Nate and Cole sighed.

"What did Nate say?" Jake asked.

"John Martin wasn't there, but another body was," was Cole's reply. "Come on, gear up."

…...

Not even a hour later, the team showed up. Nate was standing outside, waiting for them.

"What happened here, Nate?" Cole asked after he saw the front room. "This wasn't like this yesterday."

"I have no idea. I came up to the door and saw it was ajar. I went in, and I saw this mess. When I went to the crime scene from yesterday, there was another body _right_ where LC Scott's was yesterday," Nate answered.

"You're right. It's almost perfect. She's just shorter," Cole said.

"Well, back so soon to the same scene. It really _is_ surprising. Most don't leave their victims in the same place," John announced to the room. Joe wasn't with him. He wasn't missed.

"Well, with the shard of glass through her heart, where's the blood?" Cole asked.

"I wondered the same thing," Nate tole them.

"I haven't a clue," John replied. "I'll know after I get her back. Nate, would you give me a hand here?"

"Sure . Any idea who she is?"

"Not a clue," John and Cole said at the same time.

"Well, there's nothing else to do here," Cole said. "Let's go."

…...

Luckily for Tiffany, she got back while Cole and his team were gone. If she hadn't, questions as to why she was gone for so long may have been asked, and she really didn't want to relive that meeting, even if it would've been only mentally. She went into her office and logged onto her computer, same as usual. As she was going through her email, she noticed one email whose subject stood out. The subject was James Scott Case Update and the sender was Cole. _Why didn't he just __come up here and tell me this?_ she thought. When she read it, the news shocked her as much as the murder of James and Damien somehow finding her. The latest victim was Klare North. They'd been friends for years, and they'd just talked on the phone last night. Now that she's dead, well, Tiffany didn't know what would happen next. In a note at the bottom of the letter, Cole said that the case was keeping him very busy and that he couldn't come up and tell her this face to face. _I know the feeling of being too busy to do much of anything else_. So she sat back in her chair and relished in the few minutes she would spend relaxing in her office before tackling the paperwork that has slowly started to pile up on her desk.

…...

"Her name was Klare North. She was 32, short, and had brown hair and hazel eyes," Nate told the team. Cole, Jake, Nate, and Amy were finding information on the latest victim that might be tied into the murder of James Scott.

"Any connection to James Scott or John Martin?" Cole asked.

"Nothing I've found yet would suggest a connection," Nate replied.

"I might have found something," Amy said. "Yesterday, Klare received a phone call. One of only two calls she received. One was from her sister in Florida and the other was from a blocked number. It turned out that, once I got the number and ran it, the caller was Tiffany Sutton. Better known as the Director of NCIS. Everyone glanced up toward the director's office, wondering how she fit into this. First, it's her gun that was used to kill James Scott and now the last call Klare North received was from her. The group of four suddenly became quite silent. Silent moments were not in short supply at NCIS lately.

"Should we go talk to her, Cole?" Nate asked.

"You can if you want," Cole replied. After a pause, he added, "Call first, though."

Nate walked over to his desk, picked up his phone, and dialed the director's phone number.

"Sutton." Tiffany said when she answered her phone.

_Her assistant must've left for the day_ he thought. "Director, it's Nate. Can I come up and talk to you for a few minutes?"

"About?" she answered with a question.

"The James Scott case. Some things have come up and I'd like to clear them up."

"Come on up. You'll have to ask them eventually, so let's just get it over with now."

"I'll be right up."

They hung up. Nate sighed inwardly. It was a sigh of relief that she didn't want to avoid the questions, so she probably doesn't have anything to hide. He left for the director's office, leaving Cole, Jake, and Amy in the squad room.

Tiffany, too, sighed, but not for the same reason as Nate. Nate sighed in relief; Tiffany sighed because she was worried because parts of her past that she tried to forget are being brought back up. She tried to tidy her desk up as best she could and waited for Nate to come up and question her.


	5. Chapter 4: Discoveries

Frame-Up: Chapter 4: Discoveries

Tiffany was waiting for Nate when he arrived two minutes later. "Take a seat, Nate. We may be here awhile."

Nate did as he was instructed to. The anxiety was building inside him. "Where should we start?"

"You tell me. I don't know what you _want_ to ask me," she replied in an even tone.

"Right. So, when I went to the crime scene earlier today, I found _not_ John Martin, but a dead body eventually ID'd as Klare North. By scanning through her phone records, we discovered that the last phone call she received was from you. Would you mind explaining what you two talked about?"

"Not really," she replied. "We talked about what happened since we last saw each other, which was about three weeks ago, and when we wanted to get together to hang out."

"Could you please explain _how_ you knew Klare?" Nate asked.

"We've known each other for a while now," Tiffany replied. "We met each other in, what, eighth grade. We were great friends, and we kept in touch over the years."

"A gun registered to _you_ was used to kill James Scott," Nate told her.

_This is probably going to be the hardest question he's going to ask me _she thought.

Nate continued, "Would you mind explaining how this occurred?"

"Well, I meant to report this already, but my house was broken into two nights ago," she started. She took a deep breath and continued. "Things were broken, yes. A sliding glass door and some old china was all. The only thing stolen was a 40 caliber pistol. I was going to report it the next morning. There was also a lot of..." she hesitated before going on. "...blood on the floor in my kitchen. I haven't touched anything, except my boyfriend put in a new sliding glass door for me. And, yes, he knows I'm the director of NCIS, before you ask. He didn't question the blood on the floor, only _why_ I haven't cleaned it up yet," Tiffany finished her explanation. "Any more questions?"

"Yes, two. The first is if you knew James Scott, and if you did, _how_ did you know him?"

"We met some number of years ago, in LA," she said with an air of _this discussion is over_ in her voice.

"Last question: Are you in anyway connected to John Martin?" Nate asked.

"I knew his son, Damien," was her short reply.

"How did you know Damien Martin?" Nate probed further. He knew he was pushing his luck with that question.

"I met him while I was in San Francisco," Tiffany replied with that same _this conversation is done_ air to her voice that she had when he asked her about Scott.

"I have no more questions, Director."

"You may leave, Nate. If you have anymore questions, just call," Tiffany told him. Nate got up and left to report his finding to the team. While Nate was leaving, Tiffany had one thought: _THAT could've gone better_.

…...

"She said _what_?" Cole asked him. After he told them something, he'd have to stop his report and explain _something_, no matter how small Nate would've found it. He had just explained that she knew _both_ victims and Cole was somewhat shocked.

"Apparently, she'd met Scott when she was in Los Angeles and Tiffany met Klare in Middle School. Her and Klare have stayed in touch since their paths parted at the end of High School."

"Okay," Cole told him as he was soaking everything in.

"Here's the last piece of information I was able to gleam from her before I chose to make my exit: she knew the son of John Martin, Damien."

_That_ shocked everyone in the room except Nate, who already knew and didn't show his surprise when Tiffany told him so.

"She met Damien in LA years ago. When she told me _that_, she had an edge to her voice that clearly stated that she didn't want to talk about it further."

"You think she is hiding something?" Amy asked.

"Don't know. She might be," Nate replied.

"Maybe the past is too painful for her to talk about?" Jake offered.

"Maybe," Nate said.

"Do we have something, or are we going to keep guessing?" Cole asked.

"Nothing solid, and I don't suggest talking to her about it unless we _absolutely_ have to," Nate told Cole. "She didn't want to talk about it then, so what makes you think she will now?"

"I know a way of making her talk," Amy interjected.

"We are not threatening her _or_ torturing her," Nate said.

"I meant arresting her for murder and interrogating her," Amy replied.

"But she didn't murder anyone," Jake pointed out.

"We have enough evidence toward the contrary, which means we can hold her and force her to answer questions," Amy argued.

"Enough," Cole told them. If their bickering went on long enough, Cole'd get a headache. "What do you think, Nate? You haven't given your opinion on the matter."

"Well, I say we give her a choice," Nate replied.

"What would her choices be?" Cole asked.

"It'd be simple," Nate stated. "We give her a choice between an open investigation, which could ruin her, or she can tell us what she's holding back"

"You think she'd take the latter?" Cole countered.

"If I were in her position, I know I would."

"You just talked to her, so we'll let you give her her options," Cole told him.

"Fine by me. She doesn't hate me," Nate said. As he was walking to his desk, he said so softly that nobody but him could hear _at least, not yet_. He called the director and told him that another question had come up that he had to ask her.

"Fine. Come up now," she said with a bit of exasperation. They hung up and Nate headed up to the director's office. They wouldn't admit it, but Tiffany scared them when she was mad. She didn't scare Nate, though, which was why _he_ was the one talking to her now and not one of the other agents.

"Director," Nate said, addressing Tiffany as he entered her office.

"Hello, Nate," she replied. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Well, it's not so much a question but a choice you have to make," Nate started. "I told Cole, Jake, and Amy what you told me and what you didn't and we came to a decision. We think you need to tell us what you're not, as it may be vital to our investigation. So, we're giving you a choice. Either you can just tell us what you're not, or we can hold a public investigation. Your choice."

"Well, not much of a choice there," Tiffany stated. "One option ruins me, and the other might lessen your opinions of me. I'll take the former, as it wouldn't ruin me _and_ embarrass me to the world. Get comfortable, this may take a while. Where do you want me to start?"

"What do you mean?" Nate asked, puzzled at _what_ she was asking.

"Do you want me to start with Klare, James, or Damien?" she responded to the question with another question.

"James, I guess, because that's where the whole investigation started," Nate replied.

"Do you want me to give me the short story or the long one?"

"Short, if it explains things."

"He's my cousin. Actually, he's my dad's sister's son. Somewhat confusing, but it makes sense. I just tell everyone he's my friend."

"Okay," Nate said, taking this in. "You weren't lying about Klare being a friend, or were you?"

"I wasn't. We are in no way related," she replied.

"Okay, then. How do you know Damien Martin?" Nate asked. "Just give me the long version because I have a feeling there's only one way to tell _this_ story."

"Okay. We did meet in San Francisco," Tiffany started. "We went out for a while but nothing happened. I decided I wanted to break up with him, so I took him for a walk along the Pacific Coast and told him I wanted to break up with him. He didn't take it well. I walked away and he followed. Before I could think, I turned around and gave him a blow to his back. He fell, unconscious, and I ran. I got on the first flight out of there to the farthest domestic place I could think of, which was D.C. I changed my last name and tried to lead a different life in the hope he wouldn't find me. He didn't for about 7 years. But, it couldn't last forever. Now he's found me and I think he's a bit mad about the ordeal in California. This is him getting even, in his mind," Tiffany said. "Probably didn't help that his mom didn't really like me."

It took Nate a minute to take this all in. "So, you used to go out with Damien, you broke up with him and left, and now he's out for revenge?" Nate asked her just to clarify what she just said.

"Yep, pretty much," was Tiffany's reply.

"Okay, just making sure."

"So, what do we do now?" Tiffany asked.

"Hold on for a sec, I need to call John."

"John? Why?"

"For a time of death of Klare North."

Nate walked over to the window, pulled out his cell, and called John.

"Autopsy, this is John," John answered his desk in Autopsy.

"Hey John, it's Nate. Do you have a TOD for Klare yet?" Nate asked him.

"Uh, yeah, about 15:00 hours yesterday."

"Thanks, John." They hung up.

"What'd he say?" Tiffany asked.

"Well, your gun killed her, but _you_ didn't. The TOD was 15:00 yesterday. You were _here_ yesterday. Scott was killed at 01:25 two days ago. Your security cameras put you in your house at that time. You got up at 01:00 to investigate a noise and returned to bed at 01:15. You read until 01:23. There's _no way_ you killed James Scott. You're officially in the clear."

Tiffany let out a sigh of relief. "I can't believe this. I can't wait to call Anthony."

"Who?" Nate inquired.

"My..." she started before Nate's phone ringing interrupted her.

"Let me take this. Cannon," Nate said.

"There's an Josh Cole down here wanting to see the director. He told me to call you, since the director's phone is currently set to go to voicemail," the security guard at the entrance to NCIS informed him.

"Let him come up. She wants to see him," Nate told him.

"Okay. He's on his way up."

"Okay, bye," Nate said before hanging up.

"Who wants to see who?" Tiffany asked him, puzzled.

"You want to see Josh," was all Nate said. Tiffany's face lit up. "I'll leave now," he added while inching toward the door.

"Okay. See you later, Nate," Tiffany said to him. Nate took that as his cue that he could leave.

As Nate was returning to the squad room, he noticed a man walking up the stairs. He was short, with brown hair and blue eyes. His t-shirt and jeans were soaked, since it was pouring down rain outside.

"Is Tiffany with someone?" he asked Nate.

"No," Nate answered. "Who are you?"

"Josh Cole. Tiffany's my girlfriend," he replied. "And you are?"

"Nate Cannon. Tiffany's my boss."

They shook hands and Josh headed up the stairs to see the director and Nate headed down the stairs to the squad room.

"Who was that?" Jake asked Nate when he walked by his desk.

"Josh Cole. He knows the director," Nate answered. The subject was dropped and Nate told them to look into Damien Martin's records, as Damien had just been moved to the top of the list of suspects. Actually, he was their _only_ suspect. Nate scanned through Damien's records, since he was fastest at it. He looked back several years and found a plane ticket he purchased from San Francisco, California to Washington D.C. He rented an apartment for 2 years before he decided to buy it.

"Why don't we pay Damien a visit. Jake and Nate, go search his house. Amy, figure out where he's been in the last week," Cole instructed his team. They left to do their respective tasks.

…...

After 30 minutes of driving, Nate and Jake finally got to Damien's apartment. They went to knock on the door and didn't get an answer.

"May I?" Jake asked Nate.

"Knock yourself out," was his answer.

Jake kicked open the door to find it empty. Not of furniture and stuff, but of people. Nobody was here. Jake and Nate searched the place for a bit.

"Found something," Nate said loudly.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Something that doesn't belong," Nate said. "Damien doesn't own a handgun, so why is _this_ here?" Nate indicated the 40 caliber pistol he was holding.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Jake asked.

"If you're thinking we've got our man, then yeah, I am."

Jake and Nate left with the gun. They'd found their killer. The only question was... where is he now?


	6. Chapter 5: Revelations

Frame-Up: Chapter 5: Revelations

Nate and Jake had just gotten back from Damien's apartment. They went straight down to Caitlin with the gun, which was probably Tiffany's, found in his apartment.

"Hey, guys," Caitlin said when they entered the lab. "What'd you got for me?"

"A gun found in Damien's apartment," Nate said.

"But Damien wasn't there," Jake added.

"Dang, I would've thought we'd gotten him. Oh, well. Another day, another time," Caitlin said.

"Could you run the serial number on this gun?" Nate asked.

"We have the weapon, so what's the point?" Caitlin replied with another question.

"What do you mean?" Nate asked. "The gun wasn't in the lockup when I checked it."

"That's impossible, I put it there a couple of days ago when I was finished with it."

"Then let's go check. You figure out what gun killed Klare?"

"Yeah, the gun that killed her was the..." she started to say, but trailed off. She had a worried expression about her that made Nate and Jake nervous.

"What?" Nate asked.

"I should've realized this earlier. Even though the test just came back fifteen minutes ago, I still should've got this.."

"You should've realized _what_?" Jake asked, cutting her off.

"The ballistics on the bullet that killed Klare were an exact match to the one that killed James. We gotta go down to evidence," Caitlin said with a tone that mas mixed with worry and surprise.

They knew better than to argue with Caitlin when she got like this, so they followed her to the evidence lockup in the garage next to forensics. When they got there, they were greeted by the person currently working there.

"Can I help you?" he said with a happy tone.

"I need the evidence I dropped off a couple days ago," Caitlin told him. "The stuff from the James Scott case from two days ago."

"Let me get that," he said as he walked away. He returned a couple minutes later with the evidence. "Here ya go. One of you need to sign, though."

"I'll sign," Nate volunteered. He signed the clipboard and went over to the table to examine the evidence. Everything was here at first glance. But when they dug through the box of evidence, they found what they were looking for: the box that held the murder weapon. The only problem was that the box felt empty. When Nate opened the box, the gun was... _gone_. Him and Jake realized what Caitlin meant. Someone _stole_ the gun. Which meant that someone broke into NCIS and escaped with the gun.

They were all speechless for a minute. Jake regained his voice first.

"How could this happen?" Jake asked. "The Navy Yard is one of the safest places in D.C."

"This guy's smarter than we thought he was," Nate stated.

"Who?" Caitlin asked.

"Most likely the same guy who murdered James Scott and Klare North. The same guy whose apartment Jake and I just went to. Damien Martin."

"So what do we do about it?" Jake asked.

"We could report it," Caitlin suggested.

"That's probably the only thing we _can_ do," Jake said.

"I'll go return the evidence, then we'll head up and report it," Nate stated. He put everything back in the evidence box and returned it to the lockup.

"Let's go," he said when he got back.

The trio went over to the elevator to head upstairs to report the break-in.

…...

"This happened _when_?" Tiffany asked when she was told of the recent development.

Nate, Jake, Amy, Cole, and Caitlin were gathered in Tiffany's office. Caitlin started with her findings. Then, Nate dropped the bomb. There was a break-in on the Navy Yard.

"Had to have been two nights ago," Caitlin said. "I took the evidence to the lockup then at...," she paused to think. "... about 20:00 before I left for the night. The evidence lockup staff was almost gone. There was one person still here, though, so he signed and I gave him the evidence and left."

"Did you notice anything _unusual_ about him?" Tiffany asked.

"Not really," Caitlin answered. "Now that you mention it, I didn't recognize him, so I just figured he was new here."

"Crap," Tiffany said. "When I met Damien, I was working at NCIS. So was he. Damien was the one who made the disguises for everyone. That _included_ fake Ids and, if needed, a job. That was his specialty. Now, he's using it for himself."

"If you're right, he can get onto the Navy Yard anytime he wants," Cole said, stating the obvious.

"He could evade us for quite a while if he can do this whenever he wants," Amy said.

"It takes work and recon. You can't pull this off in one day. You have to _plan_ for it and give yourself a few days before you try to pull this kind of thing off," Tiffany informed them.

"From what you said, he could pull this off with close to zero recon and maybe one day of planning, if that," Amy countered.

"You may be right," Tiffany replied.

"So, what do we do now?" Nate asked.

"We wait," she answered. "We wait and track his movements. See what happens."

Silence blanketed the room for a short period of time.

"Don't let me keep you here, you guys are free to go," Tiffany told them.

Everyone got up and slowly left the room.

"Nate, can you stay here for a minute?" Tiffany asked.

"Sure," he replied. When everyone left, he closed the door and turned to address her. "What do you need?"

"My computer's acting up. Programs keep crashing and they're running slowly. Could you take a look?"

"Sure, no problem."

Tiffany got up from her desk and went to take a seat at the long table that could seat 6 people while Nate went and took a look at the computer.

"When was the last time these things were updated?" he asked himself. "Well, let's run a virus scan and see if anything's on here that shouldn't be. The scan lasted all of 5 minutes before it picked something up. The following message appeared on screen:

VIRUS DETECTED

FIREWALL DOWN

POSSIBLY CRITIAL FILES ACCESSED

SORCE: EMAIL ATTATCHMENT

SENDER OF EMAIL:

RECIPEANT OF EMAIL:

DATE SENT: 8/15/09 AT 21:06

"Tiffany, do you still have emails from two months ago?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to delete them. Why?"

"Could you log onto your email for me? I need to check something."

"Sure."

EMAIL LOG ON

USERNAME: suttonti

PASSWORD:******

"There ya go. Just be careful what you look at and open."

"Let's make this easy and just search for it."

SEARCH SENDER:

SEARCH DATE: 8/15/09 at 21:06

…...

ONE RESULT

SUBJECT: Case Report

"What the? My power was out then, and I left at 20:30 that night. I couldn't have sent that email. Tiffany, do you remember opening this email?"

"Let me see... yeah, you sent it to me."

"No, I didn't. My power was out at that time and I left here that night at 20:30, same time I always leave. And we weren't working on a case then."

"I feel like an idiot if you're suggesting what I think you are."

"There was probably a virus embedded into the attachment. Had to be a pretty good one, too, because your firewall _and_ your virus scanner didn't pick it up. I'd guess our favorite murderer from your past is behind this little trick."

"Now we know he got into the lockup."

"It's getting late. We should all go home for the night. Tell the team they can leave. I know I am. See you tomorrow, Nate."

"See ya later, Tiffany," Nate said, then he left her office to head home for the evening. He said bye to everyone, told them Tiffany said they could leave, then he left for the night.

…...

"You like the movie?" Tiffany asked Josh. The two of them were sitting on Tiffany's couch watching a movie. The movie was _The Count of Monte Cristo_.

"It's okay. Definitely not my favorite movie ever, but it's good," Josh replied.

"Oh, shoot, I left something in my car," Tiffany said.

"Can't it wait?" Josh asked.

"Well, considering it's for you, it can't. I'll be right back," she said before leaving. Josh paused the movie and sat patiently waiting for her return. Shortly after, there was a knock on the door.

"You forget your keys, Tiffany?" he asked before opening the door.

"Nope," the man at the door replied before forcing his way past Josh into the house.


	7. Chapter 6: The Fight

Frame-Up: Chapter 6: The Fight

"Who are you?" Josh asked.

"Damien. I'm a... friend of Tiffany's. Is she here?" the newcomer, Damien, asked.

"No, she's not in here right now," Josh answered.

"How do you know her?" Damien asked

"I'm her boyfriend," Josh stated.

"Just the person I'm looking for," Damien told him. Then, without warning, Damien threw a punch at Josh. He ducked, with the fist missing his head by a mere couple of inches.

"What the hell was that for?" Josh shouted at him.

"She broke up with me years ago. I'm out for revenge," Damien stated.

"It was you? All the killings, it was _you_!" Josh said with a tone that had a hint of anger in it.

"I didn't want to do it, but I just thought of San Francisco and it was easy. It affected her, hurt her. My revenge had started."

"Why James?" Josh asked, his voice tinged with astonishment.

"He was her cousin."

"And Klare?"

"They'd been friends for _years_. Losing an old friend would hurt anyone.

"Now I'm at the top of your list?"

"If you want to think of it that way, yes."

_Tiffany, what've you done?_ Josh asked himself. "Are you out to kill me? Or injure me?" this time, the question was said aloud.

"Whatever's easier," he stated simply.

_Great_ went through Josh's head. He'd obviously have to fight him. The question was _how?_

That question was answered for him. Damien went at him with the objective of tackling him. Josh sidestepped the attempt and tried to deliver a blow to his back. Damien rolled over and kicked Josh in the gut. Josh stumbled backward a few steps and recovered. He ducked and ran. Josh ran right into Damien's knee area and knocked him to the ground. Josh tried to hold him, but his grip slackened for a second, and Damien used that to his advantage. He flipped Josh off of him and got up. Josh, on the other hand, fell onto his back so hard the wind was knocked out of him. The fighting would've kept going if not for a woman standing in the doorway.

"What is going on here?" Tiffany asked in astonishment. She looked around and saw a mess in what was once an organized room. The couch and armchairs were knocked backwards and there were holes in the wall. Well, they weren't all holes. They were mostly dents; small, shallow craters in the wall. At least the more valuable stuff had survived. One such item being her grandmother's vase from Ireland that was at least 100 years old. She got it as a gift 7 years ago, before she moved here.

"Tiffany? Is it really you?"

"_DAMIEN_!" she exclaimed. "How'd you find me?"  
"Honestly, it was too easy. You've seen me make a fake ID out of close to zero information. Did you really think you could hide from me forever?"

_I was kinda hoping for yes I could_ she thought. "You'll never get away with this. They'll find you and you'll get arrested for murder. Double homicide, actually."

"I still like you, you know," Damien said in a nice tone of voice.

_It's like talking to a rock_ she thought. He just didn't get it: she didn't like him anymore. She did for like two weeks, but that was it.

"Well, I don't, so get over it," Tiffany said to him in as level a voice as she could come to bear. He was a part of her past she didn't want back in her life in any way, even as a harmless thought.

That's when Josh made his move. Damien's attention at the moment was fixed on Tiffany, so he didn't notice when Josh picked up a vase that probably came from the dollar store that was in the kitchen and whacked Damien in the head with it. It didn't kill him, but it had the desired effect: it knocked him out. Josh ran over to Tiffany.

"Get out of here while you can!" he told her. "Go to NCIS. Wait until morning and tell the first agent that gets there that you trust what happened here tonight."

"I won't leave you here to fight him!" she practically shouted at him.

"This isn't a debate, Tiffany. If something happened to you, I don't know what'd I do."

As this discussion was happening, Damien rudely came back to consciousness. He had a sharp pain located at the back of his head that he slowly started to feel until it hurt so badly that he woke up. He got up, grabbed a wooden board from the fire place. Tiffany, who was facing into the house, was so focused on Josh at the time that she wouldn't notice him until he hit Josh. He'd have to act fast after that. He chose his time perfectly. Tiffany had turned her head for a split second, and that's when he struck. Josh hit the floor with a thunk and Tiffany screamed. She lunged at Damien, partly out of rage. She would, however, regret this later. Damien stepped to the side and Tiffany hit the floor. He picked her up by her arms and handcuffed them so she couldn't use them. She tried to kick him, but he was expecting that and managed to avoid it, but the margin by which she missed was small.

"Let me go!" she shouted at him.

"Not a chance. He can suffer," Damien told her as he tied her feet up. He held her jugular for 15 seconds and she was knocked out. Damien picked her up and left the house, but not before picking up the limp form of Josh and setting him in one of the chairs in the living room. He'd had the brain to fix it so nobody wondered what happened here. Damien put Tiffany in the front seat of his car and left.

…...

Several hours later, Josh woke up. All he knew was that his head hurt. As he took in his surroundings, he figured out that he was sitting in Tiffany's living room.

"Tiffany?" he asked, sounding half asleep. No response All at once, the memories hit him like a snow plow. Damien. Tiffany. The fight. He suddenly became quite worried. Josh ran through the house, looking in every room. No Tiffany. _Maybe she listened to me and left_ he thought. He walked into the garage, expecting to find it empty. No such luck. Her green Honda Accord was still sitting in the garage. _Damn_ he thought. _Maybe NCIS can help_. Josh left her house, locking the door behind him, got in his, a red Bugatti, and drove to NCIS.

…...

It was a typical morning at NCIS. Jake was listening to music, Amy was drawing, and Nate was reading. They were _all_ waiting for Cole when Nate's phone rang.

"Cannon," he answered.

"Nate, there's a Josh Cole down here and he wants to come up."

"Let him. Just check his ID and then let him up. Do that _every_ time."

"You got it." They hung up.

"What was that about?" Jake asked.

"Josh is here. But Tiffany isn't here yet," Nate replied.

Just then, Josh rushed out of the elevator and came over to them.

"Hey Josh," Nate greeted him.

"Tiffany's been kidnapped," Josh told them.

"By who?" Jake asked.

"Our favorite elusive murderer, Damien."


	8. Epilogue

Frame Up: Epilogue

*A/N: The sections in italics are first person journal entries from Tiffany and the normal text is third person overview. This will also be the Prologue for my next story*

_11/5/10_

_ I've been here for two days now. I'm not being treated like a lowly prisoner. The room I'm in is in a basement, but it's nice. I have a bed, a desk, and a TV with a DVD player. I've been writing to keep myself sane. I think I'll lose my mind eventually. I'll need a new notebook soon, I've almost filled this one up. Anyways, time to watch Ladyhawke, again._

…...…...

She'd been missing for the last two days. No note, no nothing. That's been the main focus for the NCIS team; Jake, Nate, Amy, Cole, and Caitlin have focused their energy on trying to find her. Josh has been worried, so he's showed up to NCIS everyday to help them with the investigation. They could work all day and find nothing. They won't give up, though. They've been following Damien's electronic trail since the incident, and so far nothing's come up. They're no closer to finding Tiffany then they were two days ago.

"So, what do we do now?" Josh asked. "I think we've tried everything short of a complete history rebuild on this guy."

"I don't know, Josh," Nate said. "The only thing I can think of is talking to people that appear in both of their pasts."

"Well, let's do that if it'll help," Josh told him.

"First thing we'd have to do is find a common tie in their pasts, which'll be very easy because I already know one. San Francisco, CA. Seven years ago."

"Let's look then."

"It's late, let's do it in the morning," Nate told Josh.

"Fine. The morning, then," Josh said with a resentful tone of voice.

Josh left, and Nate, after shutting down his computer, followed suit. They'd start the search in the morning for a possible lead to where Tiffany was right now.


End file.
